Follow Through
by musicallover786
Summary: Will knows that performing Toucha Toucha Touch Me with Emma was a mistake, but he never expected it to be the mistake to change his life. Spoilers through Rocky Horror, Wemma
1. Spontaneous

This was the last place Will ever thought he would find himself going willingly, especially when he didn't even have an appointment. He looked up at the sign above him, Carl Howell, DDS, reconsidering his decision, but he finally stepped into the office.

The young receptionist greeted him with a smile, "Good afternoon, how may I help you?"

Will bit his lip before asking, "What time does Dr. Howell get off work?"

She glanced at the clock behind her, "About 10 minutes; are you a friend of Dr. Howell?"

He laughed bitterly, "Yeah, something like that."

"Okay..." she replied uncertainly. "Well, you can have a seat over there if you'd like. Would you like me to tell the Doctor you're here to see him, Mr...?"

She waited for him to finish her sentence, but he ignored her prompt. "That's alright; I'll just wait here until he's finished."

For the next 12 minutes, Will sat fidgeting in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. He considered walking out of the office and just going back home. This wasn't really necessary, was it? It would just be awkward and humiliating; a sign of defeat. Just as Carl stepped through the door, he was reminded of the reason he had come in the first place. He owed this to Carl; to Emma, especially. He needed to deal with the fact that Emma didn't belong to him anymore. This was a sign of closure; it would be good for him, for everyone.

Carl walked over to the receptionist who pointed out Will sitting in the waiting room. When he saw Will, his usually cheerful demeanour turned irate. Will waved half-heartedly, making Carl even angrier. Nevertheless, he walked over to where Will was sitting.

"Will. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked sarcastically.

"Hi Carl... I was hoping we could talk. I realize we've never really discussed the whole 'Toucha Toucha Touch Me' debacle that happened between Emma and I so I just wanted to apologize." When Carl said nothing, Will continued. "It was completely out of line for me to even suggest that she practice that song with me. It wasn't fair to her and it wasn't fair to you, especially because I had promised you that I would stop trying to win her back. I'm so sorry, and I promise it will never happen again. I'm completely backing off."

Will finally risked making eye contact with Carl again, just in time to watch him collapse into the chair beside him and rest his head in his hands.

Suddenly, Carl lifted his head up and looked at Will. "Tell me, Will. What exactly happened in your classroom that day?" he asked without a hint of malice in his voice.

Will coughed awkwardly. "Umm... I thought Emma already told you? She sang the song to me, basically just acting out the scene from the-"

Carl cut him off, "Well yeah, but that's all she told me. I want details, what _exactly_ did she do?"

Will's eyes grew wide as he realized Carl was dead serious. "Well... uh... nothing really. I mean, she sang and... danced... and ripped off my shirt-"

Suddenly, Carl jumped up from his chair and started pacing. "Dammit! Why?"

"I... I don't know, I'm really sorry-"

"Shut up, Schuester, it's not all about you!" Stunned, Will remained quiet and just watched as Carl continued to pace in front of him. After a few seconds, Carl spoke again, "I'm sorry Will; that was rude. I just don't understand why she would do that. I mean, it's not like she was forced into it..." He sighed and sat back down beside Will.

Will, risking speaking again, began, "You're right, I didn't force her into anything, but I am still one of her best friends and I think she just wanted to help me out. Then once the music started, she just got carried away. It was a spur of the moment-type thing."

Carl laughed genuinely. "Are we talking about the same woman here? Emma Pillsbury, aka the last girl who would ever do anything spontaneous unless someone physically forced her?"

Will chuckled, "Well, yeah, but I thought you were helping her. You know, getting her to try new things and break her routine and the like. A few weeks ago, she was telling me how you mixed her grapes for her for the first time, and you actually got her to a public theatre to see Rocky Horror, no less."

"Yep, that's all been really helping her," Carl replied with an eye-roll. When Will raised an eyebrow, he continued, "I mean, sure, I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but it's not like any of it really makes a difference. After I mixed her grapes for her that one time, she hasn't been able to do it since, even when I've been there with her. She claims I'm the one person who can help her, even try to fix her, but clearly that's not true if I can't even get her to mix her grapes more than once. At the end of the day, she has her routine and, though she knows it's crazy, she just doesn't want to break it; she physically can't most of the time. Until..."

"Until what? What exactly are you trying to say, Carl?"

He took a deep breath before replying, "I'm saying... that I think I understand why she did it now, what exactly was possessing her."

Will stared at Carl, trying to figure out what exactly he was implying. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean..."

"You should leave, Will," Carl said harshly.

Will, his face contorted in disbelief, mumbled, "This is so messed up," under his breath but got up from his seat to leave anyways. When he got to the door, he looked back at Carl and called, "I did mean what I said, about truly being sorry," before leaving the building.

Once Carl heard the door slam behind Will, he leaned back in his chair and sighed, "Doesn't matter, bro, we all know whose fault this really is."

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	2. Omniscient

When Emma walked into her office at 7:30 Monday morning, the last person she expected to see was Carl. She was so surprised to see him sitting on her desk that she nearly dropped her handbag.

"C-Carl! Hi! I thought, um, I thought you were working this morning?" she stammered.

He chuckled sadly, "Yeah, I am, but I told them I was going to be late. This is more important."

She smiled shyly and walked over to her desk, but before she could pull him into a hug, he took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her away so there was distance between them.

Her eyes widened, "Is... is something wrong?" She asked innocently.

Carl sighed loudly before replying, "Yes, Emma, there is." He paused again before continuing, the expression on Emma's face growing more nervous with each passing moment, "You know as well as I do that this relationship isn't working out anymore. Hell, I don't think it was ever working."

"W-what do you m-mean, Carl? If this is about Will then-"

"See!" Carl cut her off, "I didn't even have to say why but your mind automatically went to Will! Doesn't that in itself say something about your relationship with him?"

"Carl, Will and I are over! The _Toucha Touch Me_ thing? That was a mistake and I'm so sorry! It'll never happen again!"

Carl paused, carefully choosing his words. "But it was only a mistake because you were dating me," he pointed out.

"Wait... what?"

"You still have feelings for him, Emma. That's why you were able to do that song with him while you and I have never even come close to being intimate like that. I mean, come on, ripping his shirt off while singing about how you want to screw him? You would never feel comfortable enough with me to do something that passionate."

Emma's eyes widened, "H-how did you know about that?"

"Umm... you told me all about-"

"No, about the shirt thing. I definitely never told you that."

"Well, see, that's just more proof," Carl started, trying to avoid the question. "You would have told me if you-"

"Carl!" Emma interrupted sharply, more sharply than Carl had ever heard her speak. "How did you know that?"

"Umm... well, a couple nights ago, Will stopped by my office and-"

"You talked to Will? Oh... oh my god, I'm going to kill him!"

"Really? Because I think you should be thanking him. He only came to apologize to me for _Toucha Touch Me_, but while we were talking, he made me realize that you could only do it because you still have feelings for him, feelings that clearly overpower any you have for me because you've never been able to do anything like that with me."

Emma started to pace the floor, getting angrier by the minute. "Oh, okay Carl. So, basically what you're saying is that you're b-breaking up with m-me," her voice cracked over the words, "Because we haven't had sex yet, which clearly means I don't love you because if I did, I would've been happy to jump into bed with you!"

"So you're saying you love me then?" Carl challenged.

She stopped pacing to stare at Carl. "Ye..." She paused, considering her answer, "I-I don't know."

"Right, and do you love him?" She bit her lip; Carl could see her eyes start to water. "That's what I thought." He walked up to her and pulled her close to him, gently rubbing her back. "Look, Emma, I think you're an amazing woman, and maybe if we had both come into this relationship with different baggage, it could've worked, but we both know now that's not the case."

Emma nodded and pulled away from Carl as she wiped at her eyes. "Yeah, I know. Thank you, Carl... for everything. You really did mean a lot to me and you helped me more than I ever could have dreamed."

He kissed her forehead, "My pleasure. See you at your next appointment?"

She giggled through the tears that refused to stop falling, "Yeah, see you then."

Carl walked out of her office, pausing outside the window in time to see Emma collapse into her chair and try to compose herself before she started work. He almost regretted it, almost didn't even do it when she started to apologize. At that moment, he had wanted to take it all back, but he knew that wasn't fair to anyone. And that thing she had said at the end, about how he really had helped her? Though he had doubted it earlier, he now believed it to be true when looking back on the past few months. He had helped her get over and rediscover her feelings for the same guy, but unfortunately, that guy wasn't him. On the other hand, he knew Will would treat her right, though he had made some terrible mistakes in the past. If Carl hadn't been sure of it, he never would have let her go.

Emma couldn't concentrate on any of her work all day; she even had a couple students leave her office before their appointments were over because they could tell she wasn't herself. It wasn't that she was upset at Carl or even Will all that much, but the feeling causing her grief was closest to self-loathing. She couldn't believe she had been so terrible to two men who both clearly had strong feelings for her. She had started dating Carl simply to get over Will, but clearly that hadn't worked out like she planned.

She told herself the same thing she always told the distressed students of McKinley, "There's no use dwelling over the past; you need to move on and look to the future." It was easier said than done, she now realized.

She was given a slight break from her thoughts when Will passed her office, giving her a small wave and shy smile as he walked towards his classroom. She returned the friendly gesture, but seeing Will reminded her of her current dilemma. What was going to happen to them now? They couldn't start dating right away, that much was obvious. After all, that had been the reason this whole mess started in the first place; neither had been ready to get that serious that fast. They needed to just start all over and become real friends again like they had been last year before trying to start a relationship. But was that even possible now, with all that had happened recently? Emma wasn't sure, but she didn't have time to ponder this because the man she had just been thinking about was now knocking on her office door.

She beckoned Will in and he slowly opened the door and closed it behind him.

"Hey Emma," he started. "I was just wondering if you were okay. I... um, I heard yelling come from your office this morning, so, umm..."

Emma bit her lip nervously, "Umm... yeah, Carl stopped by and we got into a bit of an argument..."

"Oh... is everything okay?"

"Umm... well..." This was it; it was time to tell Will that she and Carl had broken up and, more importantly, the reason behind it. What would he do? What would he say? She quickly played out her version of the next few days, weeks, months, in her head. He would try to pursue her again, just like he had done when she first started dating Carl. This time, though, he would know she wasn't a lost cause. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be strong enough to resist it; she wouldn't have the subconscious guilt of dating one man while being in love with another sitting in the back of her mind. And then, the cycle would start all over again. They would rush into a relationship too fast, one of them would make a mistake, feelings would be hurt, and their second chance would be lost. No, she couldn't let that happen. They needed to become friends again, _only_ friends, but she reasoned there was only one way for that to happen.

"We made up... Carl and I, we're just fine," she responded, without a hint of regret.

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